Preparing to Use AI in an Entry-Level Role

Less than half of employers are currently using AI tools to support HR-related activities, but that is rapidly changing, according to recent SHRM research. Of HR professionals who responded to the SHRM survey, 47 percent say using AI to support HR is a higher priority at their organization now than it was 12 months ago.

That means it likely won’t be long before you’ll be using artificial intelligence at work. Experts predict that all workers will be touched by AI within the next 10 years.

Hopefully, during your interview for an internship or a full-time position, you gained some insight into how the company views or uses AI tools. If so, you already have a good idea of what to expect. If not, ask about the company’s policy toward AI and what tools, if any, they might expect you to use in an entry-level HR role.

Angelo Apollos, SHRM-SCP, shares a recent experience with an intern to shed insight on how to best leverage AI in an HR role and offers tips for building your AI skills. He asked an intern to review a set of data and create an analysis of what the data revealed. The intern submitted a report that was generic and only provided surface-level analysis.

“I had to tell them, ‘I know you used ChatGPT, because I got pretty much the same response you did when I put it into ChatGPT,’” Apollos said.

Using ChatGPT wasn’t the issue. It was that Apollos needed the intern to add their knowledge and critical thinking skills to what artificial intelligence created to deepen the analysis with human intelligence. He also helped the intern understand that it’s essential for the information from any AI tool to be edited and shaped with company culture, organizational priorities and team dynamics in mind.

“I think it’s really important for anybody, regardless of where you are in [your] career, that if you’re using AI to produce something, it is in your voice,” Apollos said. “The people who are receiving the information you’re sending must be able to understand your thought process and your insight.”

Most importantly, he emphasized the importance of reviewing the output from an AI tool and confirming its correctness.

“You can’t take what the AI generates as being absolutely correct and accurate,” he said. “You have to do your due diligence on tone and voice, too, or everything starts to sound the same.”

Apollos frequently uses ChatGPT in his senior-level role, from writing policies to job descriptions and responses to complex queries. He also relies on LinkedIn’s AI capability to write and post job ads that appeal to the target audience he would like to appeal to.

“I think the power in artificial intelligence comes from when it is combined with human intelligence,” he said. “That is where we’re going to get the third dimension of intelligence, whatever that might happen to be called.”

Practicing any new skill is the only way to get comfortable with it. Apollos recommends experimenting with AI and using it in your personal life to get familiar with what it can do, so you have a level of familiarity when it’s time to use it in the workplace.  

For example, Apollos used ChatGPT to generate an upcoming vacation itinerary featuring a list of must-see sights and excursions. Once he had an AI-generated list, he sent it to a friend who lives in that city. The friend then pointed out three “awful” recommendations and suggested more enjoyable alternatives.  

“The No. 1 thing to take away from AI is that you still need to verify everything that comes from it.” Apollos said. “While it has a rich data set, it doesn’t have the subtlety and nuance of human cognition. So, practice it, try it, but test it.”

If you’re looking for another way to test it out—use an AI tool to help you decide on breakfast, lunch or dinner based on the food you’ve already purchased.

“The more you play with any new tool or any new technology, the more you’ll learn about its capabilities and limitations,” he said. “That means you can leverage it in a much more intelligent way.”